Autodesk 3ds Max plugin - Startup guide & plugin modes for Mental Ray

admin · 2017-04-08 07:24:45

1. Log in to Web Manager and download the 3ds Max plugin

2. Install the software

3. Save the copy of your scene before submitting. The plugin may make some changes that are necessary for rendering on our farm

4. Locate the 'renderBeamer' menu in 3ds Max and click 'Beam it up'

5. From mode selection list select desired render mode and submit scene to farm

Overview

The general information about GarageFarm.NET plugin for rendering with 3ds Max and Mental Ray on the farm.

Overview of settings of the plugin - rendering modes, choosing output format, setting framerange and sending your scene to the farm.

https://youtu.be/ux37zApwBCA?list=PLBGFQYyaa0jQJmvU0KXWc_ayVoVstiTel

Render as is

With this mode your scene is rendered "as it is". Its useful for scenes with already pre-cached GI or for shots without caching needed. It can also be used for scene testing purposes. We are not providing any GI caching options in this set-up.

https://youtu.be/pesE5IEBoZY?list=PLBGFQYyaa0jQJmvU0KXWc_ayVoVstiTel

Full animation - bake & render

This mode should be used for full animated scenes (including objects animations, materials changes, or light moves).

With this mode our plugin creates two jobs. First of them is "GI caching" scene (called "bake" scene). Second one is rendering.
Second job/scene (rendering) is using pre-cached GI maps from first job.

In Full animation mode, GI is cached for each frame in the timeline so if your scene is starting from 0 and ending at frame 100 you will receive 100 GI map files. Each of GI maps is calculated on one render node so this process is very fast and stable.

https://youtu.be/88N5fv2vJ2M?list=PLBGFQYyaa0jQJmvU0KXWc_ayVoVstiTel

Camera animation - bake & render

This mode should be used for scenes where the camera is the only animated object.

With this mode our plugin creates two jobs.

First of job is "GI caching" scene. GI cache is done using "bake step" parameter. As default its set to 10, so if your scene is starting from 0 and ending at frame 100 you will recive 11 frames cached into one Final Gather map file (including starting & ending frame).
The second job is for rendering scene. It uses pre-cached GI maps from the first job.

https://youtu.be/-F8UonQACXI?list=PLBGFQYyaa0jQJmvU0KXWc_ayVoVstiTel

Still image (strip) - bake & render

Still image mode is our custom distributed rendering system, designed for rendering hi-resolution still shots.

With strip mode your scene will be baked (or not - if you got your own GI maps) and rendered with multiple machines. After successful rendering, final frame will be merged into one hi-res. file.

Our software creates two or three (depends on set-up) scenes. First of them is GI caching scene. This can be skipped when you got your own pre-cached GI maps by turning off "bake" switch (we don't recommend that). GI "baking" is done on single 24 cores machine. After successful GI bake, the rendering job starts. Hi-Res still shot will be split on multiple machines. Number of used computers depends on "strip" box set-up (plugin window). Each machine renders one "strip" with all selected outputs and saves it.
After complete strips rendering final frame will be merged into one file. This process is the third job, called the "merge job".

https://youtu.be/IjQladjRhY0?list=PLBGFQYyaa0jQJmvU0KXWc_ayVoVstiTel

Version 001

#1 2017-04-08 07:24:45